Stamp-affixing device



July 29. 1924. 1,503,389

M. A. TAYLOR STAMP AFFIXING DEVICE Filed Feb. 9. 192s A TI'OHNEYS Patented Juiy 29, 1924i.

isaas sTAMr-AEEXING DEVICE.

Animation inea lFebruary 9, 1923. serial No. 618,081.

To all whom t may concerns Y Be ity known that I,MATTHEW ARNOLD TAYLOR, a citizen of Canada, and a resident of Los Angeles, in the'county of Los'Angeles, Stateof California, have inventeda certain new and Improved"Stamping-Aixing Device, of which the followingis a full, clear, andl exact description. A

and improved device`for holding a plurality of postage stamps in strip arrangement and for supplying a single stamp and aiiixing the same to a piece of mail matter/on eachY operation of the device.,

As preferably embodied, the invention ,iin-" cludes an exceedingly simple, inexpensive,

compact and reliable device for thus handling postage stamps,'-to provide such a device being one object of the invention.

Another Object of the invention is to provide. a stamp aflixing device as indicated wherein the important and practical fea? ture is incorporated of insuring always that irrespective of the speed of movement of the main actuating part, preferably a palm-knob at'the top of a vertically reciprocable frame member Yor structure, and irrespective of whether or not such frame element is given its full predetermined working stroke or a fraction thereof, only one of two things may occur, to Vwit, the failure entirely to feed and aiiix astamp, or the feeding and aifixing of a single whole stampl In other words, assuming the supply stamp-strip is properly set after being placed on the supply reel, or on Vorin some other means having an equivalent function, it is never possible so to actuate the frame element, either by hand or power means, as tosever a stamp from the strip other than along a separating line of perforations or the likeV between two ad` joining stamps, or otherwise mutilate a stamp. i

A further object is vto provide equally simple, inexpensive, compact and reliable stamp-aiixing means, cO-acting in timed relation with the other elements of the device, and so co-acting properly to moisten each stamp as'it, is about to be a'liixed, and only then. Y Y

-Various other objects and advantages will be in part obvious and in part pointed out below. n Y The invention will bev best Vrunderstood n from,Y a consideration of the following detailed description when takenrin connection with the accompanying 'drawingf forming part of this specification; with thejunder; standing, however, that such drawing illus'l trates, merely by way ofy example, Oi1e.pos"siV bleH embodiment of the' invention, andflthat the invention is not coninred'toany strict conformity withlthe showing inthe drawing,

v n .n but may be changed andinodified so long 'as This invention aimsto provide a novel such changes and 'modifications mark no ma`' terial departure from` the' salient features of: the invention jas expressed in the appended claims. l j

In said drawing, i y Fig. `l is a. 'vertical section through the'y device taken on line l-'l OfFig.y 2 with cei-,V tain parts broken away;` Y Y 1 j Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2-2'of Fig. l', also with certain parts broken away; y f

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on ,line S-SOfFigQgand y Fig. 4 is a verymuch'enlarged fragmentary .View showing certain Aof the'parts as seen in Fig. l. A Y y A sheet metal main-frame structure to various parts of'which the reference'chara top cross-piece 5a having'near'topposite ends a pairL of parallel `Vlateral n slots.V Through these slots are guided upper vertically vextending portions of a sheet metal slide-frame structure to various parts iof which the reference character 'vis applied in Figs. 1,2 andA.vr .l

Slide-,frame`6 is further guidedby a`j slot engagement with a fixed horizontal rod/7,' the slide-frame beingidentically.slotted on opposite sides as indicated'at 8. ff

Slide-frame 6 isrheld normallyelevated as shown by means of an exipansile spring 9 between it and the main-frame; and such slideacter 5 is applied in Figs. 1,2.and 3, includesV frame may be manually depressed for a Y' V a reduced cylindrical; portion marked v7Min Y Fig.f2 and set loosely in ,an accomodating axial recess in the inner end vof a stublshaft l2 journalled in that side of`the`main-frame- This arrangement securely sets the rod 7 fixedly in place and atithe same time permits a gear 13 .pinned asf-indicated in; Fig` the inner end of the stub shaft to be rotated independently of a' reel 14 loose on rod 7 between the gear and the far side of the mainframe.

This reel on which the supply strip 15 of stamps is wound is turned pursuant to the action of a rubber or other suitable roller 16 relative to the lower portion of the strip; such roller beingl fixed on the same shaft 17 asis secured a pinion 18. Shaft 17 is journailedv in main frame `5.

j The parts are so designed that on each revolution of gear 13 by the action of a flat spiral spring 19v (Figs. 2 and 3) when the gear is released for such a fractional revolution by a rocking of a lever 2O to free its lower claw 21 relative to one of the six coacti'ng latch projections 14a on gear 13, the strip 1.5 is fed by roller 17 the distance of a f'ull Width or length of a stamp. In the presentcase it is preferable to use strips 15 in each of which the stamps of the column are arranged side by side; that is to say, the reel 14 is of a slightly greater length than that of a stamp, and the distance the roller 17 feeds the strip each time the gear 13`makes a complete revolution, is equal to the width of a stamp plus the space between two adjoiningrstamps.

Such spiing 19 hasits inner end set tight in. 'a suitable jam-notch 22 (Fig. 3) `out in stub-shaft 12; the other end of the spring being secured to a pin 23 fixedly offset from a cup-hood 24 having ajcentral opening as clearly shown in Fig. 2 by way of which a bolt 25 (Fig. 2) may be set in the outer end of the stub shaft to secure the hood in place but loose relative to the stub-shaft.

Thus, whenever the spring 19 needs to be rewound it is only necessary to rotate the hood about the stub shaft, as by means of a knob 26 (Fig. 2) formed integral with pin 23; pawl and latch means asindicated at 27 being provided to prevent unwinding of the spring by way of a reverse movement between hood and stub shaft.

. Lever 20 is pivoted to its side of the main frame as at 28. As indicated most clearly in Fig. 4, the upper substantially horizontal arm 20a of the lever is slightly rockable relative to the longer arm of the lever, in the direction indicated by the arrow 29, against a wire spring 30. This result is attained by having the relatively movable arm parts of the lever shaped in the vicinity of pivot 28 so as to overlap each other and so as to present .mutually limiting portions or shoulders'as indicated at A and B in Fig. 4.

A portion of slide-frame G' reciprocable in line with' the free end of arm 2Oa of lever 20 is provided with a ratchet projection 31. v Where strip 15 is acted on by roller 16, such strip ispguided in a chute formed by apairf'o-f plate members32 (Fig. 1). This chute v-is iixe'dly' carried by a detachable water cup 33, preferably shaped as indicated, and including an extra inner wall most removed from the main-frame, comprising a sheet-like wick 34 of any suitable material. It will be noted that this wick' emerges from the lower thin elongate mouth of the cup 33 in such a way as to permit water to eXude from the cup by way of such mouth only as the result of capillary action in the wick; and that the wick is protruded beyond such mouth to present an varea forming one of the side walls of the chute at the eXtreme lower end thereof. The water cup 33 may have a hinged cover 35.

The water cup and chute structure just described are carried by the main structure, detachably if desired, by the hook engagement of a notched plate 36 on the cup and a pin 37 carried by the main-frame.

It will be noted in this connection that the Si weight vdistribution of the parts hangingl from pin 37 is such that the uninterrupted plate 32 of the chute is forced to a certain pressure against roller 16 and thereby the parts are disposed as illustrated in Fig. 1. ci

Operation: Assume that the machine has just beenset up, that is to say, the cup 33 has been filled with water, and a strip 15 of stamps has been wound on the' reel as illustrated but with the forward or lower edge E of the strip not asshown in Fig. 1 butl at the point E.

Gn striking knob 10 to depress the slideframe, tooth 31, if the slide-frame is depressed far enough, rocks lever 2O to release gear13 for a one-sixth revolution, for a full movement to that extent, and only for a full moven'ient. Thus one stamp, the one at the lower end of the strip, is fed, fully fed, and solely fed, after being moistened by wick 34. Such stamp now lies as shown in Fig: 1, that is, extends from the point E to the point E, but still unsevered from its fellows. Thus it will be seen that such a feeding of a single stamp occurs on a downward movement of the slide-frame even short of its full stroke, provided only such movement is sufficient to rock lever 20. On the other hand it will be seen that any movement of the slide-frame less than that required to rock lever 20, will result in no feeding movement at all of the strip 15. If a downward movement of frame 15 Yresults in a feeding of a stamp as described, and such movement is a full stroke, the4 stamp will be affixed to the piece of mail matter by the impact of the striker plate formed by the bottom cross-length of the slide-frame. If, however, after such a single stamp has been fully fed during the first part of a downward stroke of the slideframe, the slide-frame is inadvertently not given its full stroke, the subsequent withdrawal of the piece of mail matter will show the same unstamped, whereupon the moistened stamp is manually pulled freeand af- .ixedto the piece of mail matter in the usual way. It'will of course be understood that when the stamp is affixed by the device, the same will be severed from its fellows along a proper line of separation, by means of the lower edge of the striker plate adjacentv to the lower end of cup 33, practically at the instant the stamp is automatically aflixed.

On the ensuing upstroke of the slide-frame in response to spring 9 projection 31 freely passes lever 20 without moving claw 21 due to the permitted relative movement of the arms of such lever. As the projection passes the free end of arm 20a,'said arm momentarily rocks upward relative to the other arm of lever 20 to separate the shoulders B and advance the shoulders A toward each other. As soon as the projection 31 clears the free end of arm 20, spring 30 restores the lever arms to the positions illustrated.

l claim:. l Y

1. In a device of thekind described, the combination of means for feeding a stripof stamps, an actuator movable to operate such means to feed such strip to dispose a portion thereof in position to be severed and affixed to a piece of mail matter, means for moistening such portion during the feeding operation, means for severing such portion, means for afixing the severed portion to said piece, and means for controlling the feeding means, whereby vto prevent any feeding at all of such strip on a movement of such actuator less than a predetermined minimumV and for insuring the complete feedingof a single stamp on a movement of such actua.

, tuator are carried by a single slide-frame,

and said stamp-feeding means includes a gear and a reel, there being provided a fixed frame for guiding the slide-frame on which said gear and Vreel are rotatably mounted.

il. The device defined in claim l, wherein said feeding means includes a gear and means associarted with the gear and the actu Vator for fractionally rotating the gear on for the strip, and means for co-axially mounting reel and gear for dissimilar angular speeds of rotation simultaneously.

6. The device defined in claim l, wherein said feeding means includes a gear having a plurality of latch members, means for urging the gear to revolution, and a pivoted member rockable by the actuator and on each rocking of which is adapted to free one of said latch members and thereupon engage another latch member.

7. The device defined in claim l, wherein said feeding means includes a guide chute for the stripY and said mo-istening means includes a wick forming a wall of said chute.

V 8. The device defined in claim l, wherein said feeding means includes a guide chute for the strip and said moistening means includes a wick forming a wall of said chute at the lower end'thereof. y

9. In a device of tbe kind described, the combination of `means for feeding a strip of stamps, an actuator movable to Voperate such means to feed such strip to dispose a portion `thereof in position to be severed and affixed to a piece of mail matter, means for moistening such portion during the feeding operation, ine-ans for severing such portion, means for afiixing the severed portion to said piece, said feeding means including a gearv fractionally rotafted on each full working stroke of the actuator, and a loose reel coaxial with. the gear. Y'

- 10. In amdevice of the kinddescribed, the combination of means for feeding a strip of stamps, an actuator movable to operate such means to feed such strip to dispose a pontion thereof in position to be severed and aflixed to a piece of mail matter, means for moistening such portion during the feeding operation, means for severing such portion, means for aiiixing the severed portion to said piece, said feeding means including a gear fractionally rotated on each fullrworking stroke of the actuator, and a supply reel for the strip controlled by said gear.

11.111 a device of the kind described, the combination of means for feeding a strip of stamps, an actuator movable to operate such means to feed such strip to dispose a portion thereof in position t0 be severedk A and affixed to a piece of mail matter, means for moistening such portion during the feeding operation, means for severing such portion, means lfor aflixing the severed portion to said piece, said feeding means including a gear fractionally rotated on each full working stroke of the actuator, a supply reel for the strip, and means whereby the movement of the reel is controlled by said Gear.

MATTHEW ARNOLD TAYLoie. 

